Were you afraid of seeing surgeries before?

[COMedic2Doc]

After you been a cna for a while cleaning old people's unwanted waste, the smell of anything doesnt bother you. Especially after you cleaned up bloody stool and c.diff. I have seen a few surgical nurses put some type of doohickey under their nose that blocks the smell. You should try that, pretty smart. I tried that once and it made me sneeze a lot. Quick question: What do you guys do about itchy noses? My nose always itches as soon as I'm sterile. I can't even think clearly because it itches so bad. (It seriously pisses me off since it stops completely when I can scratch it.) *not hijacking just curious*

The doohickey referred to is Vick's Vapo Rub for many people (similar to what some use for anatomy labs as well). There are other strong, odorous rubs as well. For me c. diff isn't nearly as bad as cauterized flesh, lower GI bleeds, etc. As to itchy noses, please post the results on YouTube and here on SDN when you actually do it.

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[Doctor246853]

Not so much a scratchy nose, but with a runny nose I would take sudafed (from behind the counter) in the morning before surgeries and stuff paper towels/kleenex up my nose before scrubbing. Gross, I know.

Yes, it is gross. What do you do when the tissue is about to fall out or something? I want to go into surgery but my body is stupid. If the or is <65 degrees then my nose runs like crazy but if it is >80 my nose, armpits, chest, face, butt itches. I cant win for nothing!

 

[armybound]

Not so much a scratchy nose, but with a runny nose I would take sudafed (from behind the counter) in the morning before surgeries and stuff paper towels/kleenex up my nose before scrubbing. Gross, I know.

I had a runny nose for a ~6 hour case once. I just let it run and didn't take my mask off until I was at the bathroom

 

[Jennet]

I recently had my first surgery on my left tricep. I was given only local anesthetic, so the worst part was the injection and the terrifying thought of the surgeon cutting into somewhere the anesthetic had not reached. Not only did I get to hold my arm in that seductive Kate Winslet a la Titanic pose, I could, to an extent, see what was going on. It was an incredibly surreal experience to watch my skin be stitched back together while not feeling pain, but feeling some weird tugging pressure on my arm. I remember thinking, "This is SO COOL and also SO GROSS."

Honestly, while I thought the whole experience was awesome, I was terrified. The best part about going through it was having some basic understanding of why people are scared of surgery especially when you're awake for it. Now I feel like a mutant watching the skin reform under the stitches; that being said, I think my weird fascination speaks volumes about my interest in medicine.